Sh'maya (Mishnah)

Sh'maya (Mishnah)

Sh'maya (Hebrew: שמעיה, or Shemaiah, Samaias or Sameas) was a rabbinic sage in the early pre-Mishnaic era who lived at the same time as Avtalyon. They are known as one of the "zuggot" ("couples"): "Sh'maya and Avtalyon". Both Sh'maya and Avtalyon were converts to Judaism and were both descendants of King Sancheriv of Assyria who destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel. [ [http://www.messiahtruth.com/mishna13.html Thunder from Sinai: Chapter 1, Mishna 10, Essay 13 ] ]

He was a leader of the Pharisees in the first century BC; president of the Sanhedrin before and during the reign of Herod the Great. He and his colleague Abtalion are termed in "Pesahim", 66a the "gedole ha-dor" (the great men of the age), and "darshanim" (exegetes) ("ibidem", 70a). Grätz has shown ("Geschichte" iii. 171) that neither Shemaiah nor Abtalion was of Gentile descent, although both were Alexandrians. Of the political life of Shemaiah only one incident is reported. When Herod on his own responsibility had put to death the leader of the national party in Galilee, Hyrcanus II permitted the Sanhedrin to cite him before the tribunal. Herod appeared, but in royal purple robes, whereupon the members of the Sanhedrin lost courage. Only Shemaiah was brave enough to say: "He who is summoned here on a capital charge appears like one who would order us to execution straightway if we should pronounce him guilty. Yet I can blame him less than you and the king, since ye permit such a travesty of justice. Know then that he before whom ye now tremble will some day deliver you to the executioner." This tradition is found twice, in Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews" xiv. 9, sect. 4, and "Sanhedrin", 19, where the name is altered (compare Grätz, "Geschichte" iii. 711).

Shemaiah said: "Love work. Hate authority. Don't get friendly with the government." ("Avoth" 1:10).

Of the private life of Shemaiah almost nothing is known, except that he was a pupil of Judah ben Tabbai. According to "Avoth" i. 10, his favorite maxim was, "Love handicraft, shun power, and make for thyself no friends of worldly might." This apothegm, like those of his colleague Abtalion, is significant of the misery of the entire period.

References

*Mishnah, "Avot" 1:10
*Josephus, "Ant." xiv-xv
*Heinrich Grätz, "Geschichte" iii. 171-207, and note 16
*Emil Schürer, "Geschichte" i. 348, 349, 399; ii. 202, 205, 355, 358
*http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=602&letter=S&search=Shemaiah (entry written by Joseph Jacobs & Schulim Ochser). JewishEncyclopedia


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hebrew calendar — The Hebrew calendar (הלוח העברי ha luach ha ivri), or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah… …   Wikipedia

  • DANCE — In Ancient Israel In the Bible, Mishnah, and Talmud, dance is referred to in various contexts as an important ritualized activity and as an expression of joy. None of these references, however, contain descriptions of how the dancers actually… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Sign language — Two men and a woman signing. A sign language (also signed language) is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns (manual communication, body language) to convey meaning… …   Wikipedia

  • Hillel the Elder — Hillel (הלל) (born Babylon traditionally c.110BCE 10CE [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=730 letter=H Jewish Encyclopedia: Hillel] : His activity of forty years is perhaps historical; and since it began, according to a… …   Wikipedia

  • Clergy — (left to right) George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury (1991–2002), Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi (UK), Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Jim Wallis, Sojourners, USA. 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Cleric redirects here. For… …   Wikipedia

  • Chabad — For other uses of Chabad , see Chabad (disambiguation). Part of a series on Chabad Re …   Wikipedia

  • Jesus — This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. For other uses, see Jesus (disambiguation). Jesus …   Wikipedia

  • 200 — NOTOC EventsBy PlaceWorld* Human population reaches about 257 million.Roman Empire* Septimus Severus visits Syria, Palestine and Arabia. * Palestine, benefiting from the benevolent policies of Severus, sees a significant economic revival. * The… …   Wikipedia

  • Nasi — For the Arab month by this name, see Nasi (month). Also the Malay/Indonesian word for rice. (e.g. Nasi goreng) Nāśī’ (נָשִׂיא) is a Hebrew title meaning prince in Biblical Hebrew, Prince (of the Sanhedrin) in Mishnaic Hebrew, or president in… …   Wikipedia

  • Abtalion — Abht alyon, also Avtalyon, Avtalion and Abtalion ( he. אבטליון) was a rabbinic sage in the early pre Mishnaic era who lived at the same time as Sh maya.A leader of the Pharisees in the middle of the first century BC and by tradition vice… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”